System for improving distributed network data flow efficiency by generating interaction leads

ABSTRACT

Systems, apparatuses, and methods that improve network data flow efficiency by generating interaction leads. In various embodiments, the system provides at least one database containing user data, which is searched to generate at least one active lead from the user data. The system provides at least one interaction lead based upon analysis of the at least one active lead. The at least one interaction lead is transmitted to an agent device.

FIELD

The invention relates generally to an enterprise system, and moreparticularly to an enterprise that improves distributed network dataflow efficiency by generating interaction leads.

BACKGROUND

In response to increasing competition, entities, like service providers,have begun to adopt interaction and service techniques that have beensuccessful in other fields. Marketing interaction services poses uniquechallenges, however. To begin with, most people do not shop forinteraction services as they do for other products. Instead, an eventoccurs to cause a user to make a change or be open to a change. Alimited number of major life events may cause the user to consider achange either by moving, death, formation of a family, or when a userbecomes significantly dissatisfied. For these reasons large unfocusedmarketing of interaction services is usually not effective. Instead,marketing of interaction services must be targeted to those usersinclined to make a change or open other accounts. In the past,accurately identifying users that are open to change and predicting whenthese events will occur has been difficult, if not impossible. Thus,there is a need for an improved system and method for predicting whenusers or potential users will be open to change or new financialproducts.

To anticipate the needs of the users and support targeted marketing, aservice provider must know its users. Knowing the users is alsoimportant for improved user service and a long-understood way ofobtaining and keeping new users. With the emergence of mobileapplications for interaction services, however, it has become moredifficult to develop relationships with the users because the frequencyof in-person contact of the user with particular employees hasdecreased. A size of a large entity's user base can also present anobstacle to certain marketing efforts. In the financial community, thelarge entity may have several million households and users each with aunique set of accounts. The data available for these households, users,and accounts is so massive, that it has not been fully used fororganized campaigns.

Certain entities traditionally maintain electronic user records in oneor more user databases. A database management system (DBMS) may beemployed to manage the creation, storage, access, updating, deletion,and use of the user databases. The DBMS creates databases and theirstructures, which may provide the means to: control and administrationof the data in the databases; to access, enter, modify, and manipulatethe data in a databases; “ad hoc” query facilities; report access of thedatabase and activity performed; report hardware utilization, status ofcurrent users, and other monitoring data; and provide automatic backupand recovery routines for the data in databases. The database managementsystem may allow the data to be readily created, maintained,manipulated, and retrieved from the databases.

In recent years, certain entities have used direct mailing andtelemarketing to advertise a wide variety of financial products andservices to existing and new users. To assist these efforts, theentities have used traditional databases containing, for example, userlists and mailing lists. These traditional marketing methods do not,however, take full advantage of the information available to theentities.

Today's entities typically tender consumers a wide variety of financialproducts, including traditional deposit, investment, loan, and mortgageaccounts, as well as a variety of interaction services, including creditcards, brokerage, direct access, business access, checks as cash,telephone bill payment, and safety check. In addition, the entitiestypically tender access to interaction services through a variety ofmeans, including mobile applications, automatic teller machines (ATMs),user activated terminals (CATs), personal computers, voice responsesystems, as well as traditional human bank tellers. Information fromthese diverse sources provides a comprehensive overview of a user'sfinancial habits and needs. Thus, the ability to store and retrieve thiswealth of data in a meaningful way has enormous commercial potential.Despite this commercial potential, there remains a need for a system andmethod for using the comprehensive information from these diversesources and retrieving information from the databases in a meaningfuland practical way.

There are several deficiencies in currently available systems andmethods. Most users (e.g., bank employees) never learn how to usecomplex databases and have only a limited understanding of the program.Consequently, the current databases typically do not have theflexibility to allow the user, the person most familiar with marketing,to use their own knowledge and experience to select criteria retrievingdata from the database for targeted marketing. Instead, users must relyon a set of pre-defined queries that may or may not provide the desiredresults. As a result, organized campaigns typically only target easilyascertainable groups of new or existing users, such as all new users, orall existing users with certain types of accounts, etc. Since there hasbeen no effective way to quickly generate and distribute lists of leadsfor very specific groups of people that are most likely to subscribe tonew interaction services being tendered, those users who most likelyneed or want the additional products the entity has to tender are notalways the ones targeted by the organized campaigns. This has resultedin less than satisfactory success rates for the organized campaigns.

In addition, enterprise agents, for example bank branches, branchmanagers, and others in charge of the organized campaigns, are often notgiven access to a user's entire relationship with the entity or completedemographic information about the user (i.e., the user's “profile”).Thus, it is difficult for the agents to address the targeted usersintelligently, with full knowledge of the user's background andfinancial situation. Basic information about existing users isfrequently not available, or the response time required to profile anexisting user is too long. These problems tend to create a poorexperience for the user and less than optimum performance of the agents.

Moreover, the performance of the agent has not been analyzed and trackedeffectively. A complete indication of performance has typically onlybeen available after the organized campaigns are complete and after theresults of the organized campaigns are manually collected and analyzed.This typically requires ad-hoc systems that generate relatively slowfeedback to the agents.

Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved integratedsystem for identifying targets, distributing leads, enhancinginteraction tools, and tracking the performance of large organizedcampaigns and individual agents to maximize user satisfaction, as wellas the profit of the entity.

BRIEF SUMMARY

In concordance and agreement with the present invention, an improvedintegrated system for identifying targets, distributing leads, enhancinginteraction tools, and tracking the performance of large organizedcampaigns and individual agents to maximize user satisfaction, as wellas the profit of the entity, has surprisingly been discovered.

In one embodiment, a system for improving distributed network data flowefficiency, comprises: a computer with one or more processor and memory,wherein the computer executes computer-readable instructions to guideinteractions with an agent device; and a network connection operativelyconnecting the agent device to the computer; wherein, upon execution ofthe computer-readable instructions, the computer performs stepscomprising: providing at least one database containing user data;generating at least one active lead from the user data; generating atleast one interaction lead based upon analysis of the at least oneactive lead; and transmitting, via the network connection, the at leastone interaction lead to at least one agent device.

In some embodiments, the at least one active lead comprises at least onedeposit lead.

In some embodiments, the at least one active lead comprises at least oneretention lead.

In some embodiments, the at least one active lead comprises at least oneborrowing lead.

In some embodiments, the at least one interaction lead is displayed onan agent dashboard provided by the at least one agent device.

In some embodiments, the interaction lead is related to tendering aproduct and/or service.

In some embodiments, the at least one interaction lead is related to atleast one of an organized campaign.

In some embodiments, the user data includes at least one of demographicdata and transaction history data of at least one user.

In some embodiments, the computer performs steps further comprisingcomparing the at least one active lead to one or more selectioncriteria.

In some embodiments, the computer performs steps further comprisingdiscarding the at least one active lead that does not satisfy the one ormore selection criteria.

In some embodiments, the computer performs steps further comprisingcombining the at least one active lead with at least one list leadand/or at least one queued lead.

In some embodiments, the computer performs steps further comprisingapplying one or more guidelines to at least one active lead, list lead,and queued lead.

In some embodiments, the computer performs steps further comprisingapplying a predetermined limit for a number of the at least oneinteraction lead transmitted to the at least one agent device.

In another embodiment, a method of improving distributed network dataflow efficiency, comprises the steps of: providing at least one databasecontaining user data, at least one processor in communication with theat least one database, a memory device including readable instructions,and at least one agent device in communication with the at least oneprocessor via a network connection; generating, via the at least oneprocessor, at least one active lead from the user data; generating, viathe at least one processor, at least one interaction lead based uponanalysis of the at least one active lead; and transmitting, via thenetwork connection, the at least one interaction lead to the at leastone agent device.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of comparingthe at least one active lead to one or more selection criteria.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of discardingthe at least one active lead that does not satisfy the one or moreselection criteria.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of combiningthe at least one active lead with at least one list lead and/or at leastone queued lead.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of applyingone or more guidelines to at least one active lead, list lead, andqueued lead.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises the step of applying apredetermined limit for a number of the at least one interaction leadtransmitted to the at least one agent device.

In some embodiments, the user data includes at least one of demographicdata and transaction history data of at least one user.

The features, functions, and advantages that have been discussed may beachieved independently in various embodiments of the present inventionor may be combined in yet other embodiments, further details of whichcan be seen with reference to the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above-mentioned, and other features and objects of the inventions,and the manner of attaining them will become more apparent and theinvention itself will be better understood by reference to the followingdescription of embodiments of the invention taken in conjunction withthe accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating an enterprise system andenvironment thereof for implementing a user interaction application, inaccordance with an embodiment of the presently described subject matter;

FIG. 2 is a flow diagram showing a high-level architecture of a userinteraction application according to an embodiment of the presentlydisclosed subject matter;

FIG. 3 is a flow chart representing a method, according to at least oneembodiment, of improving distributed network data flow efficiency byidentifying and distributing interaction leads, enhancing interactiontools, and tracking the performance of campaigns and individual agentsto maximize user satisfaction;

FIG. 4 is a representation of a graphical user interface displaying anagent dashboard including interaction leads generated by the enterprisesystem of FIG. 1 ; and

FIG. 5 is a representation of a graphical user interface displayingdetails of one of the interaction leads provided in the agent dashboardof FIG. 2 and generated by the enterprise system of FIG. 1 .

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described more fullyhereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which some,but not all, embodiments are shown. Indeed, the presently disclosedsubject matter may be embodied in many different forms and should not beconstrued as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, theseembodiments are provided so that this disclosure will satisfy applicablelegal requirements. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.Unless described or implied as exclusive alternatives, featuresthroughout the drawings and descriptions should be taken as cumulative,such that features expressly associated with some particular embodimentscan be combined with other embodiments. Unless defined otherwise,technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning ascommonly understood to one of ordinary skill in the art to which thepresently disclosed subject matter pertains.

The exemplary embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will beboth thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of thesubject matter and enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make, use,and practice the subject matter.

The terms “coupled,” “fixed,” “attached to,” “communicatively coupledto,” “operatively coupled to,” and the like refer to both (i) directconnecting, coupling, fixing, attaching, communicatively coupling; and(ii) indirect connecting coupling, fixing, attaching, communicativelycoupling via one or more intermediate components or features, unlessotherwise specified herein. “Communicatively coupled to” and“operatively coupled to” can refer to physically and/or electricallyrelated components.

Embodiments of the present disclosure described herein, with referenceto flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods orapparatuses (the term “apparatus” includes systems and computer programproducts), will be understood such that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer program instructions. These computer program instructions maybe provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, specialpurpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus toproduce a particular machine, such that the instructions, which executevia the processor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create mechanisms for implementing the functions/actsspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in acomputer-readable memory that can direct a computer or otherprogrammable data processing apparatus to function in a particularmanner, such that the instructions stored in the computer readablememory produce an article of manufacture including instructions, whichimplement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer orother programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series ofoperational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmableapparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that theinstructions, which execute on the computer or other programmableapparatus, provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specifiedin the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. Alternatively,computer program implemented steps or acts may be combined with operatoror human implemented steps or acts in order to carry out an embodimentof the present disclosure.

While certain exemplary embodiments have been described and shown in theaccompanying drawings, it is to be understood that such embodiments aremerely illustrative of, and not restrictive on, the broad disclosure,and that this disclosure not be limited to the specific constructionsand arrangements shown and described, since various other changes,combinations, omissions, modifications and substitutions, in addition tothose set forth in the above paragraphs, are possible. Those skilled inthe art will appreciate that various adaptations, modifications, andcombinations of the herein described embodiments can be configuredwithout departing from the scope and spirit of the subject matter.Therefore, it is to be understood that, within the scope of the includedclaims, the presently described subject matter may be practiced otherthan as specifically described herein.

FIG. 1 illustrates a system 100 and environment thereof, according to atleast one embodiment, by which a user 110 benefits through use ofservices and products of an enterprise system 200. The user 110 accessesservices and products by use of one or more user devices, illustrated inseparate examples as a computing device 104 and a mobile device 106,which may be, as non-limiting examples, a smart phone, a portabledigital assistant (PDA), a pager, a mobile television, a gaming device,a laptop computer, a camera, a video recorder, an audio/video player,radio, a GPS device, or any combination of the aforementioned, or otherportable device with processing and communication capabilities. In theillustrated example, the mobile device 106 is illustrated in FIG. 1 ashaving exemplary elements, the below descriptions of which apply as wellto the computing device 104, which can be, as non-limiting examples, adesktop computer, a laptop computer, or other user-accessible computingdevice.

Furthermore, the user device, referring to either or both of thecomputing device 104 and the mobile device 106, may be or include aworkstation, a server, or any other suitable device, including a set ofservers, a cloud-based application or system, or any other suitablesystem, adapted to execute, for example any suitable operating system,including Linux, UNIX, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android and any other knownoperating system used on personal computers, central computing systems,phones, and other devices.

The user 110 can be an individual, a group, or any entity in possessionof or having access to the user device, referring to either or both ofthe mobile device 104 and computing device 106, which may be personal orpublic items. Although the user 110 may be singly represented in somedrawings, at least in some embodiments according to these descriptionsthe user 110 is one of many such that a market or community of users,consumers, users, business entities, government entities, clubs, andgroups of any size are all within the scope of these descriptions.

The user device, as illustrated with reference to the mobile device 106,includes components such as, at least one of each of a processor orprocessing device 120, and a memory device 122 for processing use, suchas random access memory (RAM), and read-only memory (ROM). Theillustrated mobile device 106 further includes a storage device 124including at least one of a non-transitory storage medium, such as amicrodrive, for long-term, intermediate-term, and short-term storage ofcomputer-readable instructions 126 for execution by the processingdevice 120. For example, the instructions 126 can include instructionsfor an operating system and various applications or programs 130, ofwhich the application 132 is represented as a particular example. Thestorage device 124 can store various other data items 134, which caninclude, as non-limiting examples, cached data, user files such as thosefor pictures, audio and/or video recordings, files downloaded orreceived from other devices, and other data items preferred by the useror required or related to any or all of the applications or programs130.

The memory device 122 is operatively coupled to the processing device120. As used herein, memory includes any computer readable medium tostore data, code, or other information. The memory device 122 mayinclude volatile memory, such as volatile Random Access Memory (RAM)including a cache area for the temporary storage of data. The memorydevice 122 may also include non-volatile memory, which can be embeddedand/or may be removable. The non-volatile memory can additionally oralternatively include an electrically erasable programmable read-onlymemory (EEPROM), flash memory or the like.

The memory device 122 and storage device 124 can store any of a numberof applications which comprise computer-executable instructions and codeexecuted by the processing device 120 to implement the functions of themobile device 106 described herein. For example, the memory device 122may include such applications as a conventional web browser application.These applications also typically provide a graphical user interface(GUI) on the display 140 that allows the user 110 to communicate withthe mobile device 106, and, for example a mobile banking system, and/orother devices or systems. In one embodiment, when the user 110 decidesto enroll in a mobile banking program, the user 110 downloads orotherwise obtains the mobile banking system client application from amobile banking system, for example enterprise system 200, or from adistinct application server. In other embodiments, the user 110interacts with a mobile banking system via a web browser applicationcapable of performing the same or similar tasks to the mobile bankingsystem client application. As used hereinafter, each of the softwareapplication associated with the enterprise system 200 and the analogousweb browser application capable of performing the same or similar tasksare denoted by reference numeral 132, which may refer to a mobilebanking system client application capable of operating on either of theuser devices 104, 106.

The processing device 120, and other processors described herein,generally include circuitry for implementing communication and/or logicfunctions of the mobile device 106. For example, the processing device120 may include a digital signal processor, a microprocessor, andvarious analog to digital converters, digital to analog converters,and/or other support circuits. Control and signal processing functionsof the mobile device 106 are allocated between these devices accordingto their respective capabilities. The processing device 120 thus mayalso include the functionality to encode and interleave messages anddata prior to modulation and transmission. The processing device 120 canadditionally include an internal data modem. Further, the processingdevice 120 may include functionality to operate one or more softwareprograms, which may be stored in the memory device 122. For example, theprocessing device 120 may be capable of operating a connectivityprogram, such as the previously described web browser application. Theweb browser application may then allow the mobile device 106 to transmitand receive web content, such as, for example, location-based contentand/or other web page content, according to a Wireless ApplicationProtocol (WAP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), and/or the like. Theapplication 132 related to the enterprise system 200 may be configuredto operate in similar fashion for transmitting such web content.

The memory device 122 and storage device 124 can each also store any ofa number of pieces of information, and data, used by the user device andthe applications and devices that facilitate functions of the userdevice, or are in communication with the user device, to implement thefunctions described herein and others not expressly described. Forexample, the storage device may include such data as user authenticationinformation, etc.

The processing device 120, in various examples, can operatively performcalculations, can process instructions for execution, and can manipulateinformation. The processing device 120 can execute machine-executableinstructions stored in the storage device 124 and/or memory device 122to thereby perform methods and functions as described or implied herein,for example by one or more corresponding flow charts expressly providedor implied as would be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art towhich the subject matters of these descriptions pertain. The processingdevice 120 can be or can include, as non-limiting examples, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, a graphics processing unit(GPU), a microcontroller, an application-specific integrated circuit(ASIC), a programmable logic device (PLD), a digital signal processor(DSP), a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a state machine, acontroller, gated or transistor logic, discrete physical hardwarecomponents, and combinations thereof. In some embodiments, particularportions or steps of methods and functions described herein areperformed in whole or in part by way of the processing device 120, whilein other embodiments methods and functions described herein includecloud-based computing in whole or in part such that the processingdevice 120 facilitates local operations including, as non-limitingexamples, communication, data transfer, and user inputs and outputs suchas receiving commands from and providing displays to the user.

The mobile device 106, as illustrated, includes an input and outputsystem 136, referring to, including, or operatively coupled with, userinput devices and user output devices, which are operatively coupled tothe processing device 120. The user output devices include a display 140(e.g., a liquid crystal display or the like), which can be, as anon-limiting example, a touch screen of the mobile device 106, whichserves both as an output device, by providing graphical and text indiciaand presentations for viewing by one or more user 110, and as an inputdevice, by providing virtual buttons, selectable options, a virtualkeyboard, and other indicia that, when touched, control the mobiledevice 106 by user action. The user output devices include a speaker 144or other audio device. The user input devices, which allow the mobiledevice 106 to receive data and actions such as button manipulations andtouches from a user such as the user 110, may include any of a number ofdevices allowing the mobile device 106 to receive data from a user, suchas a keypad, keyboard, touch-screen, touchpad, microphone 142, mouse,joystick, other pointer device, button, soft key, and/or other inputdevice(s). The user interface may also include a camera 146, such as adigital camera.

Further non-limiting examples include, one or more of each, any, and allof a wireless or wired keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad, a button, aswitch, a light, an LED, a buzzer, a bell, a printer and/or other userinput devices and output devices for use by or communication with theuser 110 in accessing, using, and controlling, in whole or in part, theuser device, referring to either or both of the computing device 104 anda mobile device 106. Inputs by one or more user 110 can thus be made viavoice, text or graphical indicia selections. For example, such inputs insome examples correspond to user-side actions and communications seekingservices and products of the enterprise system 200, and at least someoutputs in such examples correspond to data representing enterprise-sideactions and communications in two-way communications between a user 110and an enterprise system 200.

The mobile device 106 may also include a positioning device 108, whichcan be for example a global positioning system device (GPS) configuredto be used by a positioning system to determine a location of the mobiledevice 106. For example, the positioning system device 108 may include aGPS transceiver. In some embodiments, the positioning system device 108includes an antenna, transmitter, and receiver. For example, in oneembodiment, triangulation of cellular signals may be used to identifythe approximate location of the mobile device 106. In other embodiments,the positioning device 108 includes a proximity sensor or transmitter,such as an RFID tag, that can sense or be sensed by devices known to belocated proximate a merchant or other location to determine that theconsumer mobile device 106 is located proximate these known devices.

In the illustrated example, a system intraconnect 138, connects, forexample electrically, the various described, illustrated, and impliedcomponents of the mobile device 106. The intraconnect 138, in variousnon-limiting examples, can include or represent, a system bus, ahigh-speed interface connecting the processing device 120 to the memorydevice 122, individual electrical connections among the components, andelectrical conductive traces on a motherboard common to some or all ofthe above-described components of the user device. As discussed herein,the system intraconnect 138 may operatively couple various componentswith one another, or in other words, electrically connects thosecomponents, either directly or indirectly—by way of intermediatecomponent(s)—with one another.

The user device, referring to either or both of the computing device 104and the mobile device 106, with particular reference to the mobiledevice 106 for illustration purposes, includes a communication interface150, by which the mobile device 106 communicates and conductstransactions with other devices and systems. The communication interface150 may include digital signal processing circuitry and may providetwo-way communications and data exchanges, for example wirelessly viawireless communication device 152, and for an additional or alternativeexample, via wired or docked communication by mechanical electricallyconductive connector 154. Communications may be conducted via variousmodes or protocols, of which GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, MMS messaging,TDMA, CDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, and GPRS, are all non-limiting andnon-exclusive examples. Thus, communications can be conducted, forexample, via the wireless communication device 152, which can be orinclude a radio-frequency transceiver, a Bluetooth device, Wi-Fi device,a Near-field communication device, and other transceivers. In addition,GPS (Global Positioning System) may be included for navigation andlocation-related data exchanges, ingoing and/or outgoing. Communicationsmay also or alternatively be conducted via the connector 154 for wiredconnections such by USB, Ethernet, and other physically connected modesof data transfer.

The processing device 120 is configured to use the communicationinterface 150 as, for example, a network interface to communicate withone or more other devices on a network. In this regard, thecommunication interface 150 utilizes the wireless communication device152 as an antenna operatively coupled to a transmitter and a receiver(together a “transceiver”) included with the communication interface150. The processing device 120 is configured to provide signals to andreceive signals from the transmitter and receiver, respectively. Thesignals may include signaling information in accordance with the airinterface standard of the applicable cellular system of a wirelesstelephone network. In this regard, the mobile device 106 may beconfigured to operate with one or more air interface standards,communication protocols, modulation types, and access types. By way ofillustration, the mobile device 106 may be configured to operate inaccordance with any of a number of first, second, third, fourth,fifth-generation communication protocols and/or the like. For example,the mobile device 106 may be configured to operate in accordance withsecond-generation (2G) wireless communication protocols IS-136 (timedivision multiple access (TDMA)), GSM (global system for mobilecommunication), and/or IS-95 (code division multiple access (CDMA)), orwith third-generation (3G) wireless communication protocols, such asUniversal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS), CDMA2000, widebandCDMA (WCDMA) and/or time division-synchronous CDMA (TD-SCDMA), withfourth-generation (4G) wireless communication protocols such asLong-Term Evolution (LTE), fifth-generation (5G) wireless communicationprotocols, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) communication protocols such asBluetooth 5.0, ultra-wideband (UWB) communication protocols, and/or thelike. The mobile device 106 may also be configured to operate inaccordance with non-cellular communication mechanisms, such as via awireless local area network (WLAN) or other communication/data networks.

The communication interface 150 may also include a payment networkinterface. The payment network interface may include software, such asencryption software, and hardware, such as a modem, for communicatinginformation to and/or from one or more devices on a network. Forexample, the mobile device 106 may be configured so that it can be usedas a credit or debit card by, for example, wirelessly communicatingaccount numbers or other authentication information to a terminal of thenetwork. Such communication could be performed via transmission over awireless communication protocol such as the Near-field communicationprotocol.

The mobile device 106 further includes a power source 128, such as abattery, for powering various circuits and other devices that are usedto operate the mobile device 106. Embodiments of the mobile device 106may also include a clock or other timer configured to determine and, insome cases, communicate actual or relative time to the processing device120 or one or more other devices. For further example, the clock mayfacilitate timestamping transmissions, receptions, and other data forsecurity, authentication, logging, polling, data expiry, and forensicpurposes.

System 100 as illustrated diagrammatically represents at least oneexample of a possible implementation, where alternatives, additions, andmodifications are possible for performing some or all of the describedmethods, operations and functions. Although shown separately, in someembodiments, two or more systems, servers, or illustrated components mayutilized. In some implementations, the functions of one or more systems,servers, or illustrated components may be provided by a single system orserver. In some embodiments, the functions of one illustrated system orserver may be provided by multiple systems, servers, or computingdevices, including those physically located at a central facility, thoselogically local, and those located as remote with respect to each other.

The enterprise system 200 can tender any number or type of services andproducts to one or more users 110. In some examples, an enterprisesystem 200 tenders products. In some examples, an enterprise system 200tenders services. Use of “service(s)” or “product(s)” thus relates toeither or both in these descriptions. With regard, for example, toonline information and interaction services, “service” and “product” aresometimes termed interchangeably. In non-limiting examples, services andproducts include retail services and products, information services andproducts, custom services and products, predefined or pre-tenderedservices and products, consulting services and products, advisingservices and products, forecasting services and products, internetproducts and services, social media, and interaction services andproducts, which may include, in non-limiting examples, services andproducts relating to banking, checking, savings, investments, creditcards, automatic-teller machines, debit cards, loans, mortgages,personal accounts, business accounts, account management, creditreporting, credit requests, and credit scores.

To provide access to, or information regarding, some or all the servicesand products of the enterprise system 200, automated assistance may beprovided by the enterprise system 200. For example, automated access touser accounts and replies to inquiries may be provided byenterprise-side automated voice, text, and graphical displaycommunications and interactions. In at least some examples, any numberof human agents 210, can be employed, utilized, authorized or referredby the enterprise system 200. Such human agents 210 can be, asnon-limiting examples, point of service (POS) representatives, onlineuser service assistants available to users 110, advisors, managers,sales team members, and referral agents ready to route user requests andcommunications to preferred or particular other agents, human orvirtual.

Human agents 210 may utilize agent devices 212 to serve users in theirinteractions to communicate and take action. The agent devices 212 canbe, as non-limiting examples, computing devices, kiosks, terminals,smart devices such as phones, and devices and tools at user servicecounters and windows at POS locations. In at least one example, thediagrammatic representation of the components of the user device 106 inFIG. 1 applies as well to one or both of the computing device 104 andthe agent devices 212.

Agent devices 212 individually or collectively include input devices andoutput devices, including, as non-limiting examples, a touch screen,which serves both as an output device by providing graphical and textindicia and presentations for viewing by one or more agent 210, and asan input device by providing virtual buttons, selectable options, avirtual keyboard, and other indicia that, when touched or activated,control or prompt the agent device 212 by action of the attendant agent210. Further non-limiting examples include, one or more of each, any,and all of a keyboard, a mouse, a touchpad, a joystick, a button, aswitch, a light, an LED, a microphone serving as input device forexample for voice input by a human agent 210, a speaker serving as anoutput device, a camera serving as an input device, a buzzer, a bell, aprinter and/or other user input devices and output devices for use by orcommunication with a human agent 210 in accessing, using, andcontrolling, in whole or in part, the agent device 212.

Inputs by one or more human agents 210 can thus be made via voice, textor graphical indicia selections. For example, some inputs received by anagent device 212 in some examples correspond to, control, or promptenterprise-side actions and communications tendering services andproducts of the enterprise system 200, information thereof, or accessthereto. At least some outputs by an agent device 212 in some examplescorrespond to, or are prompted by, user-side actions and communicationsin two-way communications between a user 110 and an enterprise-sidehuman agent 210.

From a user perspective experience, an interaction in some exampleswithin the scope of these descriptions begins with direct or firstaccess to one or more human agents 210 in person, by phone, or onlinefor example via a chat session or website function or feature. In otherexamples, a user is first assisted by a virtual agent 214 of theenterprise system 200, which may satisfy user requests or prompts byvoice, text, or online functions, and may refer users to one or morehuman agents 210 once preliminary determinations or conditions are madeor met.

A computing system 206 of the enterprise system 200 may includecomponents such as, at least one of each of a processor or processingdevice 220, and a memory device 222 for processing use, such as randomaccess memory (RAM), and read-only memory (ROM). The illustratedcomputing system 206 further includes a storage device 224 including atleast one non-transitory storage medium, such as a microdrive, forlong-term, intermediate-term, and short-term storage ofcomputer-readable instructions 226 for execution by the processingdevice 220. For example, the instructions 226 can include instructionsfor an operating system and various applications or programs 230, ofwhich the application 232 is represented as a particular example. Thestorage device 224 can also store a database 262 (depicted in FIG. 3 )of various other data 234, which can include, as non-limiting examples,cached data, and files such as those for user accounts, user profiles,account balances, and transaction histories, files downloaded orreceived from other devices, and other data items preferred by the useror required or related to any or all of the applications or programs230.

The computing system 206, in the illustrated example, includes aninput/output system 236, referring to, including, or operatively coupledwith input devices and output devices such as, in a non-limitingexample, agent devices 212, which have both input and outputcapabilities.

In the illustrated example, a system intraconnect 238 electricallyconnects the various above-described components of the computing system206. In some cases, the intraconnect 238 operatively couples componentsto one another, which indicates that the components may be directly orindirectly connected, such as by way of one or more intermediatecomponents. The intraconnect 238, in various non-limiting examples, caninclude or represent, a system bus, a high-speed interface connectingthe processing device 220 to the memory device 222, individualelectrical connections among the components, and electrical conductivetraces on a motherboard common to some or all of the above-describedcomponents of the user device.

The computing system 206, in the illustrated example, includes acommunication interface 250, by which the computing system 206communicates and conducts transactions with other devices and systems.The communication interface 250 may include digital signal processingcircuitry and may provide two-way communications and data exchanges, forexample wirelessly via wireless device 252, and for an additional oralternative example, via wired or docked communication by mechanicalelectrically conductive connector 254. Communications may be conductedvia various modes or protocols, of which GSM voice calls, SMS, EMS, MMSmessaging, TDMA, CDMA, PDC, WCDMA, CDMA2000, and GPRS, are allnon-limiting and non-exclusive examples. Thus, communications can beconducted, for example, via the wireless device 252, which can be orinclude a radio-frequency transceiver, a Bluetooth device, Wi-Fi device,Near-field communication device, and other transceivers. In addition,GPS (Global Positioning System) may be included for navigation andlocation-related data exchanges, ingoing and/or outgoing. Communicationsmay also or alternatively be conducted via the connector 254 for wiredconnections such as by USB, Ethernet, and other physically connectedmodes of data transfer.

The processing device 220, in various examples, can operatively performcalculations, can process instructions for execution, and can manipulateinformation. The processing device 220 can execute machine-executableinstructions stored in the storage device 224 and/or memory device 222to thereby perform methods and functions as described or implied herein,for example by one or more corresponding flow charts or diagramsexpressly provided or implied as would be understood by one of ordinaryskill in the art to which the subjects matters of these descriptionspertain. The processing device 220 can be or can include, asnon-limiting examples, a central processing unit (CPU), amicroprocessor, a graphics processing unit (GPU), a microcontroller, anapplication-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a programmable logicdevice (PLD), a digital signal processor (DSP), a field programmablegate array (FPGA), a state machine, a controller, gated or transistorlogic, discrete physical hardware components, and combinations thereof.

Furthermore, the computing system 206, may be or include a workstation,a server, or any other suitable device, including a set of servers, acloud-based application or system, or any other suitable system, adaptedto execute, for example any suitable operating system, including Linux,UNIX, Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and any known other operating systemused on personal computer, central computing systems, phones, and otherdevices.

The user devices, referring to either or both of the mobile device 104and computing device 106, the agent devices 212, and the computingsystem 206, which may be one or any number centrally located ordistributed, are in communication through one or more networks,referenced as network 258 in FIG. 1 .

Network 258 provides wireless or wired communications among thecomponents of the system 100 and the environment thereof, includingother devices local or remote to those illustrated, such as additionalmobile devices, servers, and other devices communicatively coupled tonetwork 258, including those not illustrated in FIG. 1 . The network 258is singly depicted for illustrative convenience, but may include morethan one network without departing from the scope of these descriptions.In some embodiments, the network 258 may be or provide one or morecloud-based services or operations. The network 258 may be or include anenterprise or secured network, or may be implemented, at least in part,through one or more connections to the Internet. A portion of thenetwork 258 may be a virtual private network (VPN) or an Intranet. Thenetwork 258 can include wired and wireless links, including, asnon-limiting examples, 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, 802.20, WiMax, LTE, and/or anyother wireless link. The network 258 may include any internal orexternal network, networks, sub-network, and combinations of suchoperable to implement communications between various computingcomponents within and beyond the illustrated environment 100. Thenetwork 258 may communicate, for example, Internet Protocol (IP)packets, Frame Relay frames, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) cells,voice, video, data, and other suitable information between networkaddresses. The network 258 may also include one or more local areanetworks (LANs), radio access networks (RANs), metropolitan areanetworks (MANs), wide area networks (WANs), all or a portion of theinternet and/or any other communication system or systems at one or morelocations.

Two external systems 202 and 204 are expressly illustrated in FIG. 1 ,representing any number and variety of data sources, users, consumers,users, business entities, banking systems, government entities, clubs,and groups of any size are all within the scope of the descriptions. Inat least one example, the external systems 202 and 204 representautomatic teller machines (ATMs) utilized by the enterprise system 200in serving users 110. In another example, the external systems 202 and204 represent payment clearinghouse or payment rail systems forprocessing payment transactions, and in another example, the externalsystems 202 and 204 represent third party systems such as merchantsystems configured to interact with the user device 106 duringtransactions and also configured to interact with the enterprise system200 in back-end transactions clearing processes.

In certain embodiments, one or more of the systems such as the userdevice 106, the enterprise system 200, and/or the external systems 202and 204 are, include, or utilize virtual resources. In some cases, suchvirtual resources are considered cloud resources or virtual machines.Such virtual resources may be available for shared use among multipledistinct resource consumers and in certain implementations, virtualresources do not necessarily correspond to one or more specific piecesof hardware, but rather to a collection of pieces of hardwareoperatively coupled within a cloud computing configuration so that theresources may be shared as needed.

One of the programs 230 of the enterprise system 200 may be a userinteraction application 260, a preferred architecture of which is shownin further detail in FIG. 2 . The application 260 may be used by anentity to improve interactions with the users 110 and performance of thehuman agents 210.

As used in the following description, a “lead” is a user or non-userspecifically targeted for interaction efforts based upon a probableneed. The lead can be self-identified, part of an ongoing effort, orpart of a short term organized campaign. A “campaign” is a group oftargeted leads (user or non-user) that are managed through theapplication 260 to introduce or expand new or existing products andservices tendered by the entity.

A “session” as used herein is a meeting, typically by telephone, betweenthe human agents 210 and the users 110 that results in the tendering ofproducts or services to the users 110 and/or other members of thehousehold of the users 110. Sessions are used to meet with the users110, to discuss the management needs of the users 110, and to tenderproducts and services to satisfy the needs of the users 110.

The application 260 utilizes the components of the enterprise system 200to provide a systematic way of targeting the users, generating leadlists, and tracking a success of user solicitations. In this way, theleads may be automatically uploaded overnight and transmitted to thehuman agents 210, for example, the POS representatives. The application260 may be capable of interfacing and in communication with otherprograms 230 and applications 232 of the enterprise system 200 such asprograms 230 and/or applications 232 for providing various products andservices of the entity, for example. Preferably, those programs 230and/or applications 232 associated with opening accounts, commencingmortgages, and the like, for example.

The application 260 utilizes the computing system 206 of the enterprisesystem 200 including, but not limited to, the processor 220, the memory222, the database 262 of data 234 stored in the storage device 224, anda plurality of the agent devices 212. These components may be“geographically separated” or “geographically remote” from one anotherand in communication through the system interconnect 238, thecommunication interface 250, and/or other means so that each of thecomponents may be permitted to communicate electronically with oneanother. As used throughout this application, the terms “geographicallyseparated” and “geographically remote” are intended to refer to asignificant spatial separation such as locations in different cities orstates and is not intended to refer to adjacent rooms or floors of abuilding. In connection with the preferred embodiment, the“geographically separated” and “geographically remote” systems aremaintained in different regions of the country. In this manner, theapplication 260 has the capability to be accessed by the human agents210 from any remote location using the agent devices 212.

FIG. 3 illustrates a method 1000 of implementing the application 260 forimproving interactions with the users 110 and performance of the humanagents 210 according to the present invention. The method includes aninitial step 1001 of providing data 234 of the users 110 in the database262. In some embodiments, the data 234 of the user 110 may be created byquerying a single user 110 or a plurality of the users 110 for attainingone or more responses forming response data entries. The querying may beconducted directly by the enterprise system 200 or by a third partyexternal source 202, 204, and may be initiated at the request of theuser 110 via participation in a campaign, the enterprise system 200 viaa corresponding communication or request, or the third party externalsource 202, 204.

The database 262 captures data 234 from various sources at various timesincluding, for example, daily and monthly feeds from other programs 230,applications 232, and systems 202, 204. The database 262 may be designedto insure accuracy of the data 234 in a uniform format. Thus, theapplication 260 may include one or more instructions and/or algorithmsfor scrubbing and standardizing the data 234 (i.e. incoming information,data history, designating status codes, maintaining tables, etc.). Forexample, one algorithm of the application 260 may link differentaccounts together into a single unit considered to be one household,based on information such as the same last name and address, or samename or social security number on different accounts, and so forth thatindicate the same user 110 or users 110 living in the same household.Accordingly, the application 260 includes instructions and/or algorithmsthat facilitate access to the data 234 in the database 262 and permitextracting the data 234 logically and use thereof in a meaningful way.

The database 262 may receive the data 234 that originates from aplurality of information sources such as internal sources 264, internalfiles 266, and tables 268 of the enterprise system 200, as well asexternal sources such as the system 100 and/or the external systems 202,204. As shown, the internal sources 264 may include dimension sources,account profiles, transactional information, and the like, etc.; theinternal files 266 may include the data 234 from campaign sources andlead dispositions 286 such as transaction history, backup files,archives, list leads generated from one or more campaigns, control groupfiles, and the like, etc.; and the tables 268 may be lookup tables andinclude dim tables having source data (i.e. a listing of the controlgroup), input/output tables, container state tables having transactionaldetails of users 110, discard tables maintaining discarded leads,reference/meta tables containing parameters (i.e. thresholds andrankings) used to apply lead restrictions, and queue tables containingqueued leads, and the like, etc.

The purpose of the database 262 is to be a single repository ofinformation that may be accessed during one or more queries conducted bythe application 260. The database 262 may include the data 234associated with a plurality users 110 of the system 100. As mentionedhereinabove, each of the users 110 may be a person or entity acting as acustomer or client of the enterprise system 200 that utilizes productsand/or services from the enterprise system 200 as defined herein, or mayotherwise be a person or entity having an established relationship withthe enterprise system 200 such that the enterprise system 200 has accessto the necessary data regarding each of the participating users 110 formaking the determination described hereinafter. The relationship presentbetween the enterprise system 200 and each of the users 110 may includeone or more of the users 110 having an account with the enterprisesystem 200 wherein certain interactions between the enterprise system200 and each of the users 220 may be monitored and recorded by thecomputing system 206. Alternatively, if not already customers orclients, one or more the users 110 may be representative of persons orentities that are considered to be potential or prospective customers orclients, such as those persons or entities for which the computingsystem 206 has the necessary data allowing for the enterprise system 200to identify and then communicate with the corresponding person or entityto tender products and/or services.

In some embodiments, the present disclosure may be carried out withrespect to the users 110 having an established account with theenterprise system 200, wherein the establishment of an account mayinclude the user 110 providing at least some of the entries of theassociated data 234 to the enterprise system 200. The enterprise system200 may collect the data 234 regarding the user 110 by directly queryingand recording the responses of the user 110. Such data 234 may beentered via use of the web browser application or software application132 associated with the system 100, and such information may be enteredby the user 110 via use of the user devices 104, 106 executing thecorresponding application 132. The data 234 provided to the enterprisesystem 200 regarding the users 110 may include, as non-limitingexamples, the gender, age, income level, employment status, homeownership status, marital status, citizenship status, etc. of thecorresponding users 110. Any available demographic data regarding theusers 110 may form a portion of the data 234 utilized by the application260 with respect the users 110.

If the enterprise system 200 is representative of a financialinstitution or mobile banking system, the data 234 accessible to theenterprise system 200 regarding the user 100 may include data regardingproducts and/or services tendered to the users 110 by the enterprisesystem 200 relating to banking, checking, savings, investments, creditcards, automatic-teller machines, debit cards, loans, mortgages,personal accounts, business accounts, account management, creditreporting, credit requests, and credit scores, as non-limiting examples.The data 234 may further include files such as those for user accounts,user profiles, user account balances, user transaction histories, userinvestment portfolios, past communications with the users 110, or filesdownloaded or received from other devices such as the user devices 104,106 of the users 110.

In some circumstances, such as when the enterprise system 200 isrepresentative of a financial institution or mobile banking systemoffering typical banking services and products, the enterprise system200 may have access to the data 234 regarding the transactions of theusers 110 as facilitated by the enterprise system 200. For example,transaction histories regarding purchases carried out via a credit cardor debit card associated with the enterprise system 200 may beaccessible to the computing system 206, as well as current or prioraccount balances or statuses of such accounts.

The enterprise system 200 may also be configured to monitor and recordspecific interactions of the users 110 with the enterprise system 200 inattaining additional data 234 regarding the users 110 that may beutilized by the application 260 disclosed herein. For example, in theevent that one or more of the users 110 has an account with theenterprise system 200, the users 110 may be required to provideauthentication data to the web browser application or softwareapplication 132 associated with the system 100. Following such a loginprocess, the enterprise system 200 may monitor and record theinteractions of the identified users 110 with the interface of thecorresponding application 132 in order to accumulate the data 234associated with the users 110. For example, the enterprise system 200may monitor the data 234 such as the number of logins to the account ofthe users 110 in a specified period of time, the frequency of the loginsof the users 110, the duration of time the user 110 remains logged intothe application 132 (while remaining active), and the types of productsand/or services interacted with and/or purchased by the users 110 vianavigation of the corresponding application 132. The data 234 may alsobe recorded regarding the navigation of the application 132, such asrecording which resources the user 110 has accessed, how long suchresources were accessed, or the like, such as referencing which webaddresses associated with the application 132 have been accessed by theuser 110 or which files related to the application 132 have beenaccessed by the users 110.

The data 234 regarding the users 110 may also include data relating tothe account settings of the users 110 as established with respect to thecomputing system 206. Such data 234 may be stored in the storage device224 of the computing system 206 and may be associated with determininghow the computing system 206 interacts with the users 110 via thecorresponding user devices 104, 106. For example, such data 234 mayinclude data relating to the frequency of communications sent from thecomputing system 206 to the users 110 for access via the user devices104, 106, under what conditions to communicate with the users 110, thecontent of such communications, the types or forms of suchcommunications, the manner in which the interface of the web browserapplication or software application 132 displays information to theusers 110, or the information or resources accessible to the users 110via navigation of the web browser application or software application132, as non-limiting examples.

In other circumstances, the data 234 may be representative of dataacquired regarding the users 110 during web related activities, such astracking a web browsing history of the users 110, as may be provided by“cookies” or similar tools, or tracking certain communications of theusers 110, such as monitoring certain aspects of the email activity ofthe users 110. If web related activities are monitored, such data 234may correspond to the activities of the users 110 with respect to thewebpage or software application 132 associated with the system 100 ormay relate to the activities of the users 110 with respect to thirdparty applications or websites. Such data 234 may be communicated fromthe corresponding user devices 104, 106 used to perform the web browsingto the computing system 206 for storage in the database 262 as a form ofthe data 234.

The enterprise system 200 may also utilize the data 234 originating fromone of the external systems 202, 204, which may be representative ofdata accumulated with respect to the users 110 external to theenterprise system 200 that is available to or otherwise accessible bythe computing system 206 via interaction with one or more of theexternal systems 202, 204. The external systems 202, 204 may accordinglybe representative of third-party data providers configured tocommunicate data 234 to the computing system 206 regarding the users110. Such data 234 may include a credit history of the users 110 ortransactions of the users 110 with respect to other business entities,as may originate from sources others than the enterprise system 200.Further examples include data 234 originating from third party socialnetworks or the like, such as check-ins at certain establishments,social connections to other users, posting or commenting histories, orinteractions with certain other users or business entities. Data 234regarding a transaction history of the users 110, whether derived fromthe relationship between the users 110 and the enterprise system 200 orthe users 110 and the external system 202, 204, may include data 234regarding the establishments at which the users 110 have made thepurchases, the amounts of such purchases, and potentially additionalinformation regarding the products and/or services related to suchpurchases. Such data 234 may be available via records of the credit ordebit purchases made by the users 110 with respect to certainestablishments as monitored by the external system 202, 204.

The data 234 collected with respect to each of the users 110 may becategorized as demographic data regarding the users 110, behavioral dataregarding the activities of the users 110, or behavioral data regardingthe activities of the enterprise system 200 with respect to the users110. The behavioral data 234 regarding the activities of the enterprisesystem 200 with respect to the users 110 may include data 234 relatingto past communications from the enterprise system 200 to the users 110regarding educational materials or data 234 relating to tenders for thepurchase of products and/or services. The demographic data generallyrefers to the data 234 regarding the users 110 that corresponds to atrait or characteristic of the users 110 by which the users 110 may becategorized or classified, whereas the behavioral data 234 generallyrefers to the data 234 regarding the recordation of informationregarding the actions of the users 110, the actions of the enterprisesystem 200, or past interactions or transactions occurring between theenterprise system 200 and the users 110.

The data 234 associated with any individual user 110 may include entriesof any of the different types of data 234 disclosed hereinabove,including entries relating to demographic data 234 or behavioral data234. Each entry of the data 234 may be representative of one of thedemographic traits of the user 110 or one of the behavioral traits ofthe user 110. The number or types of entries available in the data 234may vary among users 110 depending on the relationship to the enterprisesystem 200 and the availability of such data 234. Some entries of thedata 234 of some users 110 may accordingly be empty or may includeassumed or predicted data 234, as desired.

As used in various examples hereinafter, the data 234 of at least one ofthe users 110 may include at least one data entry related to a pastpurchase or an ongoing use (active status) of a product and/or serviceby the corresponding user 110 as tendered by the enterprise system 200,or to the lack of the purchase or use of such a product and/or serviceby the corresponding user 110. The data 234 of at least one of the users110 may also include at least one data entry related to the frequency ofuse or manner of use of a certain product and/or service provided by theenterprise system 200 for use by the corresponding user 110. The productand/or service for which the frequency or classification of use iscollected may correspond to the previously mentioned product and/orservice for which the data 234 regarding the past purchase or ongoinguse is collected. For example, if the corresponding user 110 has anestablished credit card account with the enterprise system 200, the data234 associated with the corresponding user 110 may include a data entryrelating to the active status of the credit card account (therebyindicating the past purchase or ongoing use thereof), a data entryrelating to the frequency of use of the credit card account, and atleast one data entry relating to the types or amounts of thetransactions carried out with the credit card account. The data 234 ofthe corresponding user 110 may also include data entries relating to thelack of purchase and/or use of other products and/or services alsoprovided by the enterprise system 200, such as alternative financialproducts and/or services that the user 110 is not currently utilizing.The data 234 of the corresponding user 110 may also, where applicable,include data entries relating to the purchase and/or use of productsand/or services provided by a third-party entity, such as entitiesrepresentative of competitors to the enterprise system 200. For example,the data 234 may include data entries that indicate the presence ofother credit card accounts associated with the corresponding user 110with respect to third-party financial institutions and any availabledata regarding the frequency or manner of use of such third-party creditcard accounts. As evidenced by the examples set forth hereinafter, itshould be appreciated that the data 234 associated with each of theusers 110 may include any combination of the data 234 described as beingavailable to the computing system 206 herein while remaining within thescope of the present disclosure.

The presently described subject matter relates to the application 260carried out by the computing system 206 of the enterprise system 200 andsuitable for providing interaction leads 280 based on the data 234 atthe time of the query. The data 234 utilized in performing theapplication 260 may comprise any subset of the described types of data234 described herein with respect to the users 110. The data 234 mayinclude the use of all entries of the data 234 associated with each ofthe users 110 or may include the use of only specific data 234associated with each of the users 110, such as only certain demographicdata or certain data relating to the purchase and/or use of certainproducts and/or services tendered by the enterprise system 200. The data234 may be limited to the data 234 of only those users 110 having aspecific classification based on an analysis of the data 234 of each ofthe users 110 for which the enterprise system 200 has the necessary data234. For example, the data 234 may be limited to only those users 110having an active account with the enterprise system 200, only thoseusers 110 fitting into a specific demographic classification such asexceeding a certain age, only those users 110 that have alreadypurchased or are currently utilizing a selected product and/or serviceoffered by the enterprise system 200, or only those users 110 that havenot already purchased or utilized a selected product and/or servicetendered by the enterprise system 200. The data 234 may also includeeach of the data entries described as relating to the purchase and/orongoing use of a particular product and/or service being limited tothose activities having occurred within a given time frame, such asthose data entries representative of activity having occurred within thepast month, the past 6 months, the past year, or the like.

In step 1002, the application 260 may continuously or periodicallyaccess and/or search the database 262 that includes the data 234 inresponse to at least one query. As a non-limiting example, theapplication 260 accesses and/or searches the database 262 afteroperations have ceased on one business day and prior to commencement ofoperations the next business day. A variety of different triggeringconditions 270 of the query may be utilized by the application 260 whensearching the data 234 contained in the database 262. In step 1003, thedata 234 that satisfies the at least one query is identified and, instep 1004, a list of active leads 272 for further processing by theapplication 260 is generated. It is understood that the list of activeleads 272 may be generated automatically by the application 260,semi-automatically by the human agents 210 using the application 260, ormanually by the human agents 210 alone, if desired. It is furtherunderstood that the list of active leads 272 may be generated by theapplication 260 and/or the human agents 210 at any desired time such ascontinuously or periodically, for example. In one embodiment, the listof active leads 272 may be automatically generated by the application260 on a daily basis.

In some embodiments, the application 260 extracts a list of allhouseholds of the users 110, users 110, or accounts that meet thetriggering conditions 270 based on demographics, account balances,products, ownership, and so forth, for one or more targeted actions suchas tendering new products and/or services, for example. For example, thetriggering conditions 270 may generate one or more active leads 272 whena transaction meeting specific qualifications occurs, a pattern ofeligible transaction behavior occurs, and/or a transaction that isoutside a normal pattern of behavior occurs. In certain embodiments, oneor more of the triggering conditions 27 may be further defined by one ormore predetermined parameters. Each of the predetermined parameters maybe a maximum, a minimum, or a range of values and may correspond to anamount, a percentage, a frequency, a particular date, and/or a durationof time. As discussed herein, the one or more predetermined parametersmay be defined in one or more of the tables 268 used by the application260.

In certain embodiments, the active leads 272 generated by the triggeringconditions 270 of the application 260 may comprise deposit leads,retention leads, and borrowing leads. The deposit leads may be generallytriggered by a deposit that warrants contact of the users 110 becausethe deposit falls below, meets, or exceeds one or more predeterminedparameters and/or a change in a pattern of deposit behavior of the user110 (i.e. increase in frequency of deposits, etc.) occurs. For example,the triggering conditions 270 generate a new active lead 272 when asingle deposit exceeds a predetermined amount into a checking, savings,and/or money market account of one of the users 110.

The retention leads may be generally triggered by a withdrawal thatwarrants contact of the users 110 because the withdrawal falls below,meets, or exceeds one or more predetermined parameters and/or a changein a pattern of withdrawal behavior of the user 110 (i.e. the pattern ofwithdrawal behavior indicates that the user 110 may be dissatisfied withthe products and/or services) occurs. For example, the triggeringconditions 270 generate a new active lead 272 when one or morewithdrawals from an account of the user 110 occurring over one or moredays exceeds a predetermined percentage and/or a predetermined amountover a predetermined duration of time.

The borrowing leads may be generally triggered by a payoff of a loanthat falls below, meets, or exceeds one or more predeterminedparameters. For example, the triggering conditions 270 generate a newactive lead 272 when the user 110 pays off a loan earlier than apredetermined number of days prior to the maturity date. It should beappreciated that the predetermined parameters used for each of thedeposit leads, retention leads, and the borrowing leads may be basedupon whether the user 110 is a consumer, a business entity, a governmententity, a club, or a group and/or a size thereof.

After the query is ran against the database 262, in step 1005, each ofthe active leads 272 resulting from the search is compared, via theprocessor 220, to one or more selection criteria. The selection criteriamay be defined in one or more of the tables 268 used by the application260. In certain embodiments, the application 260 in step 1006 uses theone or more selection criteria to discard or remove from the list of theactive leads 272 those leads that do not satisfy requirements necessaryfor further processing by the application 260. The one or more selectioncriteria may be, for example, the active lead 272 includes invalidaccount information, the active lead 272 is associated with anineligible cost center and/or officer, the active lead 272 does not meetsegmentation guidelines, the active lead 272 does not meet predeterminedparameters for users 110 in officer-assigned relationships, and/or theactive lead 272 is associated with an internal transfer within samehousehold.

Once the active leads 272 are filtered using the one or more selectioncriteria, the active leads 272 that satisfy the selection criteria maybe combined with one or more list leads 274 and/or one or more queuedleads 276 in step 1007. In some embodiments, the list leads 274 may begenerated by various means, including but not limited to, developed onan ad-hoc basis, originating from ongoing list leads, and/or provided bycall files created from one or more campaigns, for example. The ad-hoclist leads may comprise direct mail or email follow-up call leads and/orstandalone leads targeting a particular group of users 110 that satisfycertain requirements, whereas the ongoing list leads may comprise newchecking account onboarding leads, maturing certificate of depositleads, and/or book of business leads, for example. In certainembodiments, the one or more queued leads 276 may be the interactionleads 280 provided to the human agents 210, via the agent devices 212that remained unaddressed after a predetermined duration of time. Thequeued leads 276 may be stored in and obtained from the tables 268 inthe storage device 224.

After the active leads 272, the list leads 274, and/or the queued leads276 are combined, the application 260, in step 1008, applies one or moreguidelines, via the processor 220, to each of the leads 272, 274, 276.When the leads 272, 274, 276 are combined, the application 260 isconfigured to compare each of the leads 272, 274, 276 with one anotherto identify and discard any duplicates. The one or more guidelines maybe used to filter, sort, and/or prioritize the leads 272, 274, 276 inorder to militate against “over-contacting” of the users 110, manage anumber of each type of the leads 242, 274, 276 delivered the humanagents 210, and/or prioritize delivery of the leads 272, 274, 276 withgreatest potential.

In some embodiments, the one or more guidelines may comprise recentcontact restrictions which militate against delivery of any, if not all,of the leads 272, 274, 276 when the household of the users 110 has beenrecently contacted according to the lead dispositions 286 located in theinternal files 266. It is understood that the recent contactrestrictions and/or a duration of such restrictions may vary for each ofthe leads 272, 274, 276. The recent contact restrictions and/or theduration of such restrictions may be stored in and obtained from thetables 268 in the storage device 224.

The one or more guidelines may also comprise a predetermined limit forthe number of the active leads 272, the list leads 274, and/or thequeued leads 276 delivered to the human agents 210. In certainembodiments, the predetermined limit may vary depending on a type of thehuman agents 210 receiving the leads 272, 274, 276. For example, thepredetermined limit for the number of the active leads 272, the listleads 274, and/or the queued leads 276 delivered to the POSrepresentatives and/or sales team members may be higher than thepredetermined limit for the number of the active leads 272, the listleads 274, and/or the queued leads 276 delivered to managers and/orofficers of the entity. In other embodiments, the predetermined limitmay vary depending on the type of the leads 272, 274, 276 themselves.For example, the predetermined limit for the number of the active leads272 delivered to the human agents 210 may be lower than thepredetermined limit for the number of the list leads 274 and/or thequeued leads 276 delivered thereto. It is further understood that atleast one of the leads 272, 274, 276 may have no predetermined limit forthe number thereof delivered to the human agents 210. The predeterminedlimit for the number of leads 272, 274, 276 may be stored in andobtained from the tables 268 in the storage device 224.

The one or more guidelines may further comprise a predetermined duration(i.e. an expiration date) for the active leads 272, the list leads 274,and/or the queued leads 276 delivered to the human agents 210. Incertain embodiments, the predetermined duration may vary depending on atype of the human agents 210 receiving the leads 272, 274, 276. Forexample, the predetermined duration for the active leads 272, the listleads 274, and/or the queued leads 276 delivered to the POSrepresentatives and/or the sales team members may be longer than thepredetermined duration for the active leads 272, the list leads 274,and/or the queued leads 276 delivered to the managers and/or theofficers of the entity. In other embodiments, the predetermined durationmay vary depending on the type of the leads 272, 274, 276 themselves.For example, the predetermined duration for the active leads 272delivered to the human agents 210 may be shorter than the predeterminedduration for the list leads 274 and/or the queued leads 276 deliveredthereto. It is further understood that at least one of the leads 272,274, 276 delivered to the human agents 210 may have no predeterminedduration. It is also understood that the predetermined duration for theactive leads 272, the list leads 274, and/or the queued leads 276 may bedetermined based upon local, state, and federal laws and regulationssuch as the federal “Do Not Call” regulations, for example. Thepredetermined duration for the leads 272, 274, 276 may be stored in andobtained from the tables 268 in the storage device 224.

The one or more guidelines may further comprise an assignment of apriority score for each of the active leads 272, the list leads 274,and/or the queued leads 276 to be delivered to the human agents 210. Insome embodiments, the priority score is based upon lead hierarchy andprofitability of the household. For example, the priority score may beused for selecting the leads 272, 274, 276 to be delivered when there ismore than one triggered lead per household and/or when the predeterminedlimit for any one of the leads 272, 274, 276 has been reached. Incertain embodiments, the priority score may vary depending on a type ofthe human agents 210 receiving the leads 272, 274, 276. For example, thepriority score for the active leads 272, the list leads 274, and/or thequeued leads 276 delivered to the POS representatives and/or the salesteam members may be higher than the priority score for the active leads272, the list leads 274, and/or the queued leads 276 delivered to themanagers and/or the officers of the entity. In other embodiments, thepriority score may vary depending on the type of the leads 272, 274, 276themselves. For example, the priority score for the active leads 272delivered to the human agents 210 may be higher than the priority scorefor the list leads 274, but lower than the priority score for the queuedleads 276 delivered thereto. It is understood that the priority scorefor the active leads 272, the list leads 274, and/or the queued leads276 may be stored in and obtained from the tables 268 in the storagedevice 224.

The one or more guidelines may yet further comprise “Do Not Call”opt-out and/or control group exclusions. In some embodiments, any of theleads 272, 274, 276 associated with the users 110 included on the “DoNot Call” opt-out and/or control group exclusions is removed from thelist of the leads 272, 274, 276 delivered to the human agents 210. Itshould be appreciated that the users 110 themselves may elect at anytime to be included in the “Do Not Call” opt-out. The “Do Not Call”opt-out allows the entity to flag or otherwise identify those users 110who have requested not to be contacted. Once the users 110 areidentified, the suppression flag may become part of the generationprocess for the interaction leads 280 to insure that these users 110 arenot contacted.

In certain embodiments, the control group exclusions may be determinedby the entity using the application 260. For example, the persons at theentity responsible for overseeing the campaigns may select the users 110to be included in the control group exclusions in order to assist withevaluating an effectiveness and efficiency of the campaigns. The controlgroup may provide a baseline for comparison with actual results from useof the application 260 to tender products and/or services to the users110.

Once the one or more guidelines have been applied by the application 260and the computing system 206, the leads 272, 274, 276, in step 1009, aresorted and prioritized to generate the list of interaction leads 280.Subsequently, in step 1010, the list of interaction leads 280 may becompared to the predetermined limits for the number of the interactionleads 180 that may be delivered to the human agents 210. The interactionleads 280 that “overflow” or exceed the predetermined limits are thenremoved from the list of the interaction leads 280. Such “overflow”interaction leads 280 may then be identified as and included in thequeued leads 276 stored in and obtained from the tables 268 in thestorage device 224 during the query of the application 260. Thereafter,in step 1011, the list of interaction leads 280 may be transmitted fromthe computing system 206 to the agent devices 212 for use by the humanagents 210. Each of the interaction leads 280 may be assigned by theapplication 260 to one of the human agents 210 most qualified to handlethe interaction lead 280, or based on a workload and availability of thehuman agents 210.

In some embodiments, the interaction leads 280 may be divided amongstvarious distribution channels. In one preferred embodiments, theinteraction leads 280 may be divided and transmitted via a firstdistribution channel to the human agents 210 located at branches,contact centers, and/or part of a direct team, and via a seconddistribution channel to the human agents 210 that are wealth advisorsand premier bankers. In other embodiments, the interaction leads 280 mayalso be transmitted to an automated call center, if desired.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a graphical user interface 282displaying an agent dashboard on the agent device 212 and used by thehuman agents 210. The human agents 210 may select one of the interactionleads 280 from the graphical user interface 282 to obtain particulardetails of the selected interaction lead 280. An embodiment of agraphical user interface 284 is shown in FIG. 5 , illustrating detailsof the selected interaction lead 280 provided in the agent dashboard ofFIG. 4 . The graphical user interface 284 may display generalinformation about the user 110, including but not limited to, productsowned, services used, and user behavior. For example, the userinformation on the graphical user interface 284 may include the primaryname and address for the user 110, the “best” phone number based oninternal feeds into the database 262 and external matches, the name ofthe personal banker (if any) of the user 110, a promotional contacthistory that contains information about prior user contacts in which theuser 110 participated in a campaign, and/or details of the activities ofthe user 110 including the number of checks written, tellertransactions, ATM usage, electronic and phone banking services used,payments made with checks from financial competitors, current andhistoric balances, user net revenue, credit card usage patterns, thebranch where the user's primary account is domiciled, the user'spreferred branches based on frequency of use, and other products andservices used by the user 110.

The graphical user interface 284 may further display general informationabout the entire household of the user 110. For example, the householdinformation on the graphical user interface 284 may include aggregatefinancial and product information, specific information about eachmember of the household, appended external “best guess” demographicinformation for use in planning sessions, a primary name, address, phonenumber, and branch for the household as taken from a primary account inthe household, and/or all products and services utilized by thehousehold or user 110 including investment services such as brokerageaccounts and managed funds, credit services such as bank cards, creditlines, mortgages, secured credit, and business and professional creditproducts, and other fee-based services such as safe deposit andinsurance.

The human agents 210 then conduct sessions (e.g., telephone calls) witheach of the users 110 on the list of interaction leads 180. Before andduring the sessions, the human agents 210 may use the graphical userinterfaces 282, 284 to view a complete profile (in detail or in summaryform) of the relationship of the user 110 with the entity and any otherdemographic information about the user 110 contained on the database262. This allows the human agents 210 to speak intelligently with theusers 110 during the sessions and thereby increase a success rate. Aseach of the interaction leads 280 is worked by the human agents 210, oneor more of the lead dispositions 286 may be assigned. For example, onetype of the lead dispositions 286 may be “client contacted by teammate”.Accordingly, the lead dispositions 286 may prevent increased opt-outrates and negative experiences of the users 110 resulting from frequentcontact within a short timeframe potentially across various distributionchannels.

In some embodiments, the application 260 may capture the leaddispositions 286 of each of the interaction leads 280. As discussedherein, the lead dispositions 286 may be captured and stored in theinternal files 266 located in the storage device 224 for subsequent useby the application 260. The lead dispositions 286 resulting from thehuman agents 210 may be captured by the application 260 on a daily basisas each of the interaction leads 280 is worked and closed by the humanagents 210. However, the lead dispositions 286 resulting from theautomated call center may be captured by the application 260 on aless-frequent basis (i.e. monthly) since those interaction leads 280 areworked in batch. It is understood, however, that the application 260 maycapture the lead disposition of each of the interaction leads 280 on anydesired basis such as weekly, bi-weekly, and like, for example.

The application 260 may further include a reporting function thatdisplays or prints entity or campaign level reports showing at least thelead dispositions 286. This reporting function may also include leadeffectiveness reports. In some embodiments, the lead effectivenessreports provide various measures used to evaluate an effectiveness andefficiency of the application 260 such as actual sales in the householdfor the users 110 that received at least one lead during a predeterminedperiod of time, sales rate, sales-churn rate, deposit sales increase,incremental deposit amount per contact, loan sales increase, andincremental loan amount per contract, for example. It is understood thatthe lead effectiveness reports may be generated by the application 260on any desired bases such as daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, and thelike, and/or on-demand, for example. Such reports may also be stored inthe internal files 266 located in the storage device 224 of thecomputing system 206.

The use of the application 260 improves the efficiency of the humanagents 210 and operation of the computing system 206 in variousdifferent respects. First, the disclosed method provides an ability forthe human agents 210 to eliminate unnecessary calculations andcommunications relating to certain tasks performed by the human agents210 and/or the computing system 206 that have been found to not have apositive impact on securing the desired product and/or service from theusers 110. This may be especially relevant where such campaign materialsare to be produced in hard copy form and mailed to the user 110, asextensive costs can be avoided by targeting the correct users 110. Thisresults in the human agents 210 and the computing system 206 avoiding awaste of resources when performing certain tasks, such as sendingunnecessary communications of various forms to users 110 that will neverinteract with or benefit from the sending of such communications.Second, the use of the application 260 also allows for certain variablesin the data 234 to be determined to be irrelevant to certainrelationships and further allows for the calculations occurring via thecomputing system 206 to be simplified by means of the elimination ofadditional variables. Third, the application 260 provides the humanagents 210 greater insight to determine other related actions to takethat may increase the probability of the completion of a sale or thelike with respect to a specific product and/or service, or in improvingthe preference of the users 110 with respect to a desired accountsetting. Each of the described advantages reduces network traffic asexperienced by the computing system 206 due to the ability to targetonly those interaction leads 280 that have a greater probability ofachieving a positive impact on the engagement with the correspondingusers 110.

Particular embodiments and features have been described with referenceto the drawings. It is to be understood that these descriptions are notlimited to any single embodiment or any particular set of features.Similar embodiments and features may arise or modifications andadditions may be made without departing from the scope of thesedescriptions and the spirit of the appended claims.

From the foregoing description, one ordinarily skilled in the art caneasily ascertain the essential characteristics of this invention and,without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, can make variouschanges and modifications to the invention to adapt it to various usagesand conditions.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for improving distributed network data flow efficiency, the system comprising: a computer with one or more processor and memory, wherein the computer executes computer-readable instructions to guide interactions with an agent device; and a network connection operatively connecting the agent device to the computer; wherein, upon execution of the computer-readable instructions, the computer performs steps comprising: providing at least one database containing user data; generating at least one active lead from the user data; generating at least one interaction lead based upon analysis of the at least one active lead; and transmitting, via the network connection, the at least one interaction lead to at least one agent device.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one active lead comprises at least one deposit lead.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one active lead comprises at least one retention lead.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one active lead comprises at least one borrowing lead.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one interaction lead is displayed on an agent dashboard provided by the at least one agent device.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein the interaction lead is related to tendering a product and/or service.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one interaction lead is related to at least one of an organized campaign.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein the user data includes at least one of demographic data and transaction history data of at least one user.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer performs steps further comprising comparing the at least one active lead to one or more selection criteria.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the computer performs steps further comprising discarding the at least one active lead that does not satisfy the one or more selection criteria.
 11. The system of claim 1, the computer performs steps further comprising combining the at least one active lead with at least one list lead and/or at least one queued lead.
 12. The system of claim 1, the computer performs steps further comprising applying one or more guidelines to at least one active lead, list lead, and queued lead.
 13. The system of claim 1, the computer performs steps further comprising applying a predetermined limit for a number of the at least one interaction lead transmitted to the at least one agent device.
 14. A method of improving distributed network data flow efficiency, comprising the steps of: providing at least one database containing user data, at least one processor in communication with the at least one database, a memory device including readable instructions, and at least one agent device in communication with the at least one processor via a network connection; generating, via the at least one processor, at least one active lead from the user data; generating, via the at least one processor, at least one interaction lead based upon analysis of the at least one active lead; and transmitting, via the network connection, the at least one interaction lead to the at least one agent device.
 15. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of comparing the at least one active lead to one or more selection criteria.
 16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of discarding the at least one active lead that does not satisfy the one or more selection criteria.
 17. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of combining the at least one active lead with at least one list lead and/or at least one queued lead.
 18. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of applying one or more guidelines to at least one active lead, list lead, and queued lead.
 19. The method of claim 14, further comprising the step of applying a predetermined limit for a number of the at least one interaction lead transmitted to the at least one agent device.
 20. The method of claim 14, wherein the user data includes at least one of demographic data and transaction history data of at least one user. 